Alphadawg7

Interesting, you’ve previously been in the camp that Dane was leading the race prior to this game. What has changed that makes you think it’s Benford now instead of Dane? Was it just his start this week, or has there been other reports or anything prior to the game that makes you think it’s now Benford? I mean if Benford is the starter the. Obviously his start makes a lot more sense this past week. It’s just the fact that it seems like Dane had been in that slot heading into the game and had not done anything to lose it that surprised me about Benfords start this week.

Let me clarify...I am not advocating to trade him or even saying he is for sure being traded. Unlike many others, I am not concerned with the 3 way log jam at CB2 because I love having the depth, especially given the injury issues we have had at times at CB and the number of high level WR groupings we will face both in regular season and playoffs. IMO, you can never have too many good CB's. BUT...we have a roster that isn't easy to make and we may need to make some tough decisions in places on players at various positions. Plus Beane loves and needs more draft capital given our tight cap for the foreseeable future. So, I don't think anyone would be surprised if Beane traded a player or two either for both roster space and gaining more draft capital. So why do I think Benford might be one of those players...2 main reasons: Beane already knows he has trade value and teams are interested given he was getting calls last year for Benford and he has only increased his value since then. His surprising start - In a 3 man battle at CB2, Dane was the clear leader in the race, and in the game where most starters played, Benford gets the start. So this begs the question why did Benford start? Was it because he passed Dane? Doubt it, Dane has not only been leading in the battle, but done nothing to lose his spot either as he has played well all camp and preseason and there is nothing Benford really does that Dane can't do. Was it to just give him his chance to "start" in the 3 CB race? Doubt it because they did not do that with Elam who didn't start any preseason game despite being in the race to "start". So there isn't a pattern of consistency there if they were all going to equally get that chance. OR...Was it to showcase Benford, potentially increase his value as showing him as a possible starter and see what kind of trade interest it might create? Well, for me personally, I think it may be to showcase him to see what kind of trade interest and potential compensation it might create if he showed well, which he did. This also tracks with what Beane has done in the past as well and its a common tactic when teams are considering a trade during preseason as well. So while others are focusing on what Benfords start meant for Elam, I think it may be less about Elam and more about Benford and seeing what kind of trade value a good showing might drum up. I don't think Beane would "dump" any of the CB's for cheap if teams call, so I don't think he is say aggressively shopping him or trying to dump him. But I think Benford starting may have been to try and increase his value for any calls he may get or already have gotten on one of our CB's. To me I think it shows that maybe Benford of the 3 is the one he would be more willing to trade for the right offer. And teams are always lookin for CB's, so I would suspect Beane will get some calls this year on one of them, if he hasn't already. So while I like Benford and personally prefer to keep all 4 CB's (Tre, Dane, Elam, Benford) for depth, this feels like he was just showcased to maybe gauge trade interest and value. And if Beane gets an offer he feels is good value for him, I think it might result in Benford being on the move.

Well questioning to move up to get him is a different conversation than calling his actual career a literal disappointment. If he was as bad as many make him out to be he wouldn’t have gotten paid. Should we have paid him, nope, agree with not resigning him at what the market dictated for him. But he was a better player than some are making him out to be who act like he was a total bust or something. He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t a bust either. Fans gross over exaggeration isnt a real fact either, yet that didn’t stop this thread from happening

Not wanting to pay a MLB what the got with our cap space isn’t disappointing after having a player for 5 years with his production at his rookie bargain price. That’s called making sound cap decisions.

You've got an interesting definition of “disappointing”. Multiple Pro-Bowls and top 5 in tackles in the NFL since entering the league…lol. I’ve seen you prop up way worse players but you can’t help but over exaggerate Edmunds cuz he wasn’t the next Ray Lewis lmao

This

I didn’t say he’s starting, but doesn’t mean he’s 4th string

And how do you know he is CB4?

Or…it’s possible you’re reading too much into this final preseason game considering they have been giving 3 guys looks at CB2 and that the order they played today may not be an indicator of final depth chart. It could be, but we don’t really know. They also could be showcasing one of the other DBs for a potential trade and getting them work. So before we jump to conclusions, I’d prefer to see how it plays out and what week 1 depth chart looks like.

I agree with that, but I wouldn’t classify it as that if he splits some time with Dane/Benford in different schemes. He’s already the better CB than them at press and man, but the other two are good corners themselves. So if they decide to use Elam where he is is strongest and using the others while Elam is continuing to improve in the other areas, I don’t see anything wrong with that.

I think this is what people miss on this topic. They look at it that if Elam doesn't win it then it means Elam was not good, which isn't the case, he has had a good camp. Its just that we have 3 guys all having good camps at the same position. Which to me is a good thing. Personally, I think CB2 is going to be less about who starts and more about defensive calls and matchups. I can see for example Elam out there more on press/man coverage and Dane or Benford more zone for example. So I am not convinced that whoever wins CB2 is going to dominate the snaps like Tre does in regard to "starting".

Anyone who claims Allen lacks leadership literally knows nothing about Allen as countless players have talked about his leadership and not being like anything they have been around before.

Playoff record is a product of the NFC being the weaker conference compared to the AFC over the same period.

No disagreement that our backups aren’t much better likely, but I still would not want to spend a 4th to get someone who couldnt beat out Sam Darnold as the backup for the team that spent 3 first round picks on him. All for it if he’s cut though where we aren’t risking a good draft pick on him.

Just referencing that outside MIlano, Dorian has reportedly had the best camp of any other LB so far. So it’s both that Dorian has seemed to have had stood for positive reasons and had a solid or strong camp and the other LBs over at the MIKE have not stood out as much and the pecking order is still up in the air.

This is pretty right, but without Ramsey, I think the Bills have the slightly better overall CB group, we are just deeper than them. With a healthy Ramsey I think its fair to say Dolphins. I do think the better roster even without factoring in the QB's is the Bills, and its not close if you add in QB's because Allen is a lot better than Tua. But the roster in Miami is still also still good overall, but their OL is a mess and they have a QB who gets a concussion when he gets a papercut. So without those two criticial areas improved they will not be a better football team than the Bills IMO. I mean they are the 3rd best roster just in our own division. Jets hype is legit...that D is no joke and they got the weapons on offense as well. Biggest achilles heal is the OL. Ive seen Rodgers play on some good teams with bad OL's and it held those teams back, so hoping that repeats itself some here because they to me are a real threat if not. Dolphins not so much.

Yeah, there are some age concerns obvious at Safety and of course Von. Tre is still needing to prove he is back as well. But I will say these positives in regards to these concerns. We are deep at Safety, DE, and CB. More importantly all reports on Tre have been pretty great and that he looks ready and back to form, of course we still need to see it when the real games get played, but reportedly hes had a great camp and there is reason for optimism there. Von is the biggest question mark, but I feel a lot better about that thanks to the addition of Floyd bolstering the pass rush if Von isn't ready right away or doesn't get all the way back to form. Floyd and Groot are guys I have confidence in bringing pressure still. So while these concerns are valid, I think our depth and reports on Tre so far ease those concerns for the time being, at least until we see this unit full bore on the field. I, like most, am greatly more concerned about the MIKE and if anyone can step up there. If it is an issue during the season, I hope they don't wait too long on trying Milano out at MLB and Dorian at OLB as so far Dorian has played like he is the 2nd best LB on the roster right now, so they may to get him on the field and move Milano over if MLB is a trainwreck as move along in the season.

Legit question…How is worst case scenario him being a solid backup? That’s the best case scenario. The team that invested 3 first round picks in him didn’t think he was a solid backup and chose journeyman Sam Darnold over him as the backup. He has not shown anything yet to suggest he can even be a solid backup. So worst case is that we waste a 4th round pick on him and he is worse than what we have and he is cut. Best case is he is a solid backup behind Allen, something he’s get to prove and just failed to achieve with the team that drafted him and invested a ton of draft capital in him.

Absolutely not for a 4th. He lost his job to Mr. Irrelevant and then got beat out by a QB who sees ghosts and flopped as a starter since he’s been in the league and is now on his 3rd team in the last 3 or 4 years. So no way am I giving up a 4th for a guy who couldn’t even win a backup job with the team that drafted him. If he was cut, sure bring him in to compete. But we need our picks with our cap limitations moving forward, not risking a decent pick on a QB who’s yet to show any potential and couldn’t beat out Sam Darnold as a backup.

A lot of teams starters are playing this week, don’t see the need to over analyze this and read into it doom and gloom reasoning

Again, you avoid the question of what specifically should Beane have done this off-season given he spent the most resources on the OL including drafting what might be a future star player in O’Cyrus. You can’t just say trade for a star player. One has to be available. We have to have something they want. We have to afford them. So who were they supposed to trade for that was available, we wanted, could afford, and had what that team wanted back in trade? If you can’t name those players, then your trade for a star player option doesn’t exist. And as far as Dion goes, you do realize he made his first pro bowl last year right? This was despite how bad Saffold was next to him and the struggles of the rest of the OL. So you’re being dramatic about Dion without any context to how he actually played last year which was not a lot different than his career rankings. Biggest question mark is Brown, but staff also has confidence in him still after the injury issues last year are hopefully behind him. They gave up too soon in Teller, so no surprise they are going to give Brown a chance to lock the spot down now that he is healthy.

Fair option, but he wasn’t graded as the 88th player or he would have gone earlier than 111. Clearly teams scouting had a lower grade than internet graders did. And no sacks in preseason doesn’t mean a ton as lots of guys look good in preseason against vanilla schemes and backups and guys who won’t make rosters. So he may end up being very good, just saying it’s a bit early to play the hindsight game based on just preseason performance. But, playing the hindsight game in terms of our needs and just being a rookie prospect on the OL is fair game. So thanks, this was certainly a viable option, especially if Dorian remains a backup to MIlano. We are very thin at LB though with only MIlano a proven commodity who’s has some injuries himself. So it’s not like LB wasn’t a need, so it still makes sense if they had a higher grade in Dorian to take him. We will see if it was a wide or poor decision of course. So far, I think both look promising. For the record, I’m not a Brown fan and wanted a new RT myself and would have been good taking Dewand too, even though I didn’t think they would go after a RT based on the confidence they expressed in Brown before FA and Draft.

We have cap issues, low end FAs is a reality of that. Your answer about taking Dewand Jones was a fair point and legit option, making a splash in FA with all the other holes on this team was not realistic.

Well considering he’s looked like the 2nd best LB on the team so far, they are going to need to consider moving Milano over to MLB and Dorian to WLB sooner rather than later if one of our other guys can’t secure the MIKE sufficiently enough. Hopefully Bernard comes back and shows better than Dodson has so far , but until he or someone else steps up better at the MIKE, I don’t think our defense is better with Dorian on the bench behind MIlano.

Its because they have multiple times referred to him potentially playing MLB for us. They specifically stated they are starting him off behind Milano so he wouldn't have to learn 2 positions as a rookie. I don't know why you keep ignoring the fact they have directly referenced him potentially being a MIKE for us, which they have done multiple times including after the draft and heading into camp.